Dojo News: Grand Opening for Dojo in Maple Park, IL, 7/20/2008
Posted 5/02/2008 12:01pm [from Michael Hopkins]
Dojo Address: 9N321 Barron Road Maple Park, IL 60151
It is truly a great pleasure to announce that the Westwind Center for Aikido and Traditional Japanese Weaponry will celebrate its grand opening on July 20th, 2008, and to invite all interested friends and aikidoka to celebrate the opening ceremony in beautiful, rural Kane County. This dojo is the culmination of a dream to create a retreat center available to all practitioners of aikido, regardless of affiliation or style, and to share traditional Japanese weapons styles with those who are interested. It is a space intended to break down barriers, and to foster friendship through shared training and camaraderie, especially in seminars and intensive workshops.
The Westwind Center for Aikido and Traditional Japanese Weaponry is located in rural Maple Park, about twelve miles northeast of DeKalb, IL; a five-thousand square-foot training facility fixed in a gorgeous Midwest landscape of vast fields and open sky. The dojo is comprised of a sixty-six tatami training quarter with a finished shomen and kamidana, spacious social area and kitchen, men and women’s locker rooms, and showers. The sixteen-foot ceilings are great for all types of weapons, so go ahead and bring your jo and bokken. Construction and design have all been performed by members of our aikido family. In addition, the calligraphy that decorates the shomen has been generously provided by Mrs. Michiko Hamasaki, of Yokohama, Japan, one of the few masters of “daijikigo,” the giant calligraphy style. The dojo is headed by Dr. Russell Bodner (Sandan—Aikikai), teaching aikido under the direction of Mr. Tetsutaka Sugawara (Nanadan—Aikikai) of Machida City, Japan.
So please, come out for a day of food, fellowship and training, and celebrate the grand opening of the Westwind Center for Aikido and Traditional Japanese Weaponry. Those attending are invited to camp out on the fifteen-acre estate; sleeping in the dojo is also available. The Schedule of events is as follows:
10:00am—Grounds Open
11:00am—Opening Ceremony
11:30am—Ribbon Cutting and Dojo Tour
12:00pm—Lunch
1:00pm—Katori Shinto-ryu Demonstration
1:45pm—Aikido Friendship Class Taught by Attending Instructors (Breaks Intermittently)
3:45—Aikido Weapons Class
5:15pm—Happy Hour & Potluck